South Korea Exposes Over 1000 Unfair Webtoon Contracts in Major Crackdown
The South Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has uncovered a massive case of unfair webtoon contracts, identifying 1,112 illegal or abusive clauses used by webtoon and web novel platforms. The investigation targeted 23 content providers and revealed widespread contract terms that violate creators’ rights, sparking a call for immediate reform.
South Korea Exposes Over 1000 Unfair Webtoon Contracts in Major Crackdown
In its announcement on May 18, the KFTC stated that major content companies—including RIDI, Munpia, D&C Media, Lezhin Comics, and YLAB—were using standard contracts that infringed on authors’ copyright and personal rights. Many of these contracts allowed for unauthorized adaptations into films or dramas without the creators’ consent, directly violating Korean copyright law.
Among the most serious violations in these unfair webtoon contracts were:
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Unauthorized derivative works: 17 companies, like Daewon C.I. and Millie’s Library, included clauses giving themselves full rights to produce derivative content without the author’s explicit permission.
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Broad copyright transfers: 12 companies, including RIDI, claimed rights to all future derivative works—even if they didn’t exist yet.
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Third-party rights usage: 11 companies allowed content to be sublicensed or transferred without author approval.
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Unrelated and priority rights: 8 companies inserted clauses demanding unrelated intellectual property rights and priority usage over future works.
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Author liability clauses: 21 companies, such as YLAB, shifted full legal responsibility onto the author, even in disputes beyond their control.
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Name attribution restrictions: 13 companies prohibited authors from asserting credit or allowed modifications to the work without permission.
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Forced co-copyright registration: 8 companies claimed shared copyright status even when they made no creative contributions.
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Automatic contract extensions: 7 companies used clauses that automatically renewed contracts unless the author actively opted out.
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Post-expiry usage rights: 14 companies kept rights to use or profit from the work even after the contract ended.
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One-sided terminations: 13 companies included vague terms to justify ending contracts unilaterally without fair process.
This is not the first time the KFTC has investigated unfair webtoon contracts. In 2018, the commission required some platforms to revise their treatment of derivative rights, but persistent abuse led to this broader review—including serialization platforms and content publishers.
via Você Sabia Anime
